Spring is in the air, and across the Colorado tech scene, internship opportunities are in full bloom. New professionals and students interested in fintech and information technology might look no further than the state’s largest locally owned bank, FirstBank.
In addition to being recognized by Built In as one of the best large companies to work for in Colorado every year since 2019, FirstBank has designed their internship program with cross-functionality and growth in mind.
Career navigator Bethany Powers explained that taking a 90-10 approach to structure the internship program allows interns to not only develop technical skills, but also gather professional development tools and experience the company’s culture in a natural way. For FirstBank interns in particular, the flexibility to shadow others outside of their assigned team allows them to “gain a better understanding of how the technology department supports our branch network and the bank as a whole.”
Whether you’re a recent graduate or you’re looking for hands-on work experience to supplement classroom learning, the key to long-lasting career success lies in developing strong support networks early on. Built In Colorado sat down with Powers to learn more about how FirstBank’s internship program boosts professional development and the potential projects incoming interns can look forward to participating in.
What opportunities exist for FirstBank interns, and what kind of experience can they expect?
Our interns are placed with a mentor in the same skill set they will be focusing on for the summer. The goal is to have a 90-10 split where our interns spend 90 percent of the time with their team, shadowing their mentor and developing their technical skills. The other 10 percent is spent with our career navigator on professional development and FirstBank cultural activities including the weekly book club, networking events, LinkedIn and resume workshops with our technology recruiters, a volunteer day, and more. Additionally, interns have the opportunity to shadow other internal technology teams to learn skill sets they may be interested in and gain a better understanding of how the technology department supports our branch network and the bank as a whole.
Our internship provides students with an opportunity to get a head start on learning the tools they will use on a daily basis in full-time roles.”
What are some of the coolest projects interns have gotten to participate in?
The summer internship culminates in each intern being assigned a customized project applicable to the team they’ve been placed on, later presenting what they’ve researched to our technology management and senior leadership groups. Past interns have covered topics from emerging trends in project management to the importance of code quality to a proof of concept for infrastructure as code. For the proof-of-concept project, the intern was able to learn new-to-the-team infrastructure as code technologies — alongside full-time employees — to present how those technologies could be utilized to further streamline tasks and automate server builds.
How have your internship programs helped interns grow professionally and kick-start successful careers?
Each year, interns comment on how beneficial it is to experience software development, testing and project management within a professional environment and how different it is from a classroom setting. In the classroom, students don’t necessarily have access to all of the different development and collaboration tools that professionals may use. Our internship provides students with an opportunity to get a head start on learning the tools they will use on a daily basis in full-time roles, getting them up to speed more quickly.
Additionally, the professional development activities we offer throughout these internships provide invaluable information to help our interns kick-start successful careers after graduation. Interns have the opportunity to network with other managers whom they may not get to work with on a daily basis, receive coaching from our recruiters on how to stand out during the application process, go through mock interviews to improve skills and so much more.
